On Wed, 2 Sep 1998, Mark Erik Nielsen wrote:

:| Does the gift shop have an educational potential?

It better offer educational value or you will discourage a lot of
your customers.  One of the intangible qualities that will set your
store apart from a generic gift shop in a mall is the educational
benefit your customers feel they get from spending their money at
the museum store.  If all your store offers are tchotchkies that
have "Joe's Museum" emblazoned on them, people will not want to
spend as much money (and some won't want to spend _any_) as if the
merchandise has real educational value.

:| Would the shop create a good transitional space between the world
:| and the museum?

The store can be anything you want it to be, style-wise, but it
won't matter if the store isn't making money.  Contrary to popular
myth <g> it is possible to do good, have fun and make money all at
the same time.  It just takes some creativity and persistence.

Rich Johnson
Director of Marketing
Cotton Expressions, Ltd.
http://www.cottonexpress.com